Happy Birthday, a collection of short stories by Meghna Pant
Meghna Pant who has already garnered accolades with her novel One & a Half Wife, has now written what her publisher’s note says “a beautifully written, compelling and emotionally intelligent collection of short stories.” An imprint of Vintage Books, Happy Birthday contains a number of short stories that boast to celebrate the complex, mysterious, intricate inner lives of the human beings.
Synopsis from the book cover reads:
“A retired civil servant of modest means struggles to support his snobbish foreign-returned offspring. A dedicated friend—apprised of her terminal cancer—undertakes one last labour of love for a friend unblessed with children. Nadia—married into money—rejects an overt come on and chooses to remain wallowing in her comfortably unhappy marriage. A Bombay slum-girl dreams to speak words valuable enough to be translated into English. An American tourist, seeking nirvana, gets robbed of his possessions in an ashram. Meghna’s stories evade neat categorization. Finely nuanced and full of humour, Happy Birthdayis a celebration of the complex, mysterious inner lives of our fellow human beings.”
Meghna is a financial journalist and the editor of a business magazine. Meghna’s debut novel One & a Half Wife was published by Westland Books in May 2012 which received critical and commercial acclaim. It went into multiple reprints and won the national literary Muse India’s ‘Young Writer Award’. It was on the bestseller list in many bookstores around India and Dubai. The novel was also shortlisted for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Cinnamon Press Novel Writing Award and Word Hustler’s Literary Storm Novel Contest.
I had so wanted to go to the book launch but I entered the event a day later in my planner by mistake.. and I have never repented more.
I am impressed. Thanks Onkar. Literature opens a wide gate allowing us to enter a realm of real and imagined fulfillment always touching our inner souls. A gift so easily found in the creative arrangement of words and thoughts. I so admire fine writing. Your journal is appreciated far more than you may realize. Raymond
Thank you, Raymond. I’m just trying to keep this flowing